Chitra Ramkrishna had shared confidential info with an outsider she dubbed ‘Himalayan yogi’
Former National Stock Exchange (NSE) Chief Executive Chitra Ramkrishna, accused of grave irregularities at the stock market including sharing confidential information with an outsider she dubbed a “Himalayan yogi”, has been arrested by the CBI.
The arrest came just a day after a Delhi Court dismissed her request for pre-arrest bail plea and pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI for inaction and being “lackadaisical” in the probe against her in the last four years.
Special Judge Sanjeev Aggarwal also observed that market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has been “too kind” to the accused, noting that she faced serious charges and her sustained custodial interrogation would be required to dig out the truth.
Last month, the mysterious “Himalayan yogi” who allegedly influenced Ms Ramkrishna’s decisions was outed as Anand Subramanian, also a former officer at the stock exchange arrested in a market manipulation case.
The former Chief Operating Officer of the NSE was the “yogi” who communicated with Chitra Ramkrishna through email, CBI sources said.
His controversial appointment was one of the decisions that Chitra Ramkrishna took under the so-called yogi’s influence, SEBI had said in a report.
SEBI has charged Chitra Ramkrishna and others with alleged governance lapses in the appointment of Mr Subramanian and his outsized promotion.
It has said NSE and its board were aware of the interactions with the controversial adviser, but had chosen to “keep the matter under wraps”.
The CBI is probing the alleged improper dissemination of information from the computer servers of the market exchanges to stockbrokers in what has come to be known as the “co-location scam”
Ms Ramakrishna and another former NSE CEO Ravi Narayan as well as two other officials have been fined by the SEBI for lapses in recruitment at the senior level.
Ravi Narain was the MD and CEO of the National Stock Exchange from April 1994 till March 2013, while Chitra Ramkrishna was the MD and CEO of the NSE from April 2013 to December 2016.
In response to public criticism, NSE said it was “committed to highest standards of governance and transparency”, and described the issue as being “almost six to nine years old”.